=Slow. Turned out two chapters of original novel in past week. Monosyllables. My butt hurts.=
Recompense for Treachery
Chapter 4, "Pre-date Jitters." (For everyone but those involved!)
"Hello, Junpei-kun! How can I help you?"
Junpei paused for a moment, sizing up his response. In truth, he had no real idea of what it was exactly that he wanted, but hearing her voice was enough to him, so he would merely have to come up with some sort of excuse. He blurted the first thing that came to mind.
"Would you like to go to lunch tomorrow?" he asked, immediately slapping his forehead. Girls didn't like to be assaulted with the question straightaway, he had learned that much since his high school years; they always balked, and the slow, 'how are you?' and 'nice weather' approaches made the best progress.
He should have known Tsukushi was never and would never be like other girls.
"I would absolutely love to..." Junpei held his breath, "but I'm meeting Rui, he insisted on taking me shopping for a dress. How about dinner again?"
He blinked, swallowing at her even, friendly response. Her goodwill was almost too much for him when he felt his pulse jump a few beats. "I would love that. How does Monday sound to you?"
"Great! I get to pick the restaurant this time, though," she laughed at the last. "What time?"
"I'll pick you up at seven," Junpei replied, the plan for the evening already beginning to formulate in his head.
"That's good, I'll be home. Here's my address," Tsukushi told him, giving him brief directions to the small apartment.
"See you then."
"Bye bye!"
The moment Junpei heard the line click, he threw down the receiver and leaped into the air, incidentally finding that he was still sitting in the chair while attempting to do so. In one loud crash he fell back, chair and all.
***
"You look really happy today," Rui observed, his eyes still half-lidded from sleep. He never seemed to really wake up on weekends, so Tsukushi knew it was pointless to even try to prod him to life.
"Something good is happening to me," she said vaguely, her gaze already drifting away from her friend to the various people passing by the table where they sat. It was a date; and a date, Tsukushi hadn't had in over a year. At the end of her relationship with Tsukasa, they rarely went out together, and if it was, it was only because she felt obliged to do so. Even if it was with Junpei, a date was a date.
"Care to explain exactly what it is that's giving you that creepy, dreamy look?" Rui attempted again, his eyes opening more as he peered at the rather bizarre expression on her face. It looked rather familiar, for he could swear he saw it once or twice on Tsukasa when the boy was still chasing hopelessly after the commoner girl.
Tsukushi finally seemed to snap out of her daze and she finally focused her attention on him, shrugging one shoulder. "I've got a date tomorrow night."
Rui's eyes widened considerably. "A date? With who? Is it anyone I know?"
"Calm down, it's not that exciting. It's... well, actually, it's with Oribe Junpei. I believe you remember him."
And Rui choked on the fish that was halfway down his throat. His face paled immediately, his eyes widening as he coughed in an attempt to dislodge the bony food. Tsukushi jumped to her feet and helped him stand up, patting his back and taking his fingers away from his neck. With one more cough the lump of fish flew free, soaring from Rui's mouth to the nearest wall, where it impacted with a wet slap and slid down to the floor.
All eyes were trained on the pair as Tsukushi eased Rui back to his chair, giving him one last pat before taking her seat once more. He blinked, rubbing his throat and taking one long drink of his water.
"Oribe Junpei?" His voice was incredulous. "The one who kidnapped you and put Tsukasa in the hospital?"
Tsukushi nodded slowly, a frown forming at his words. "That was a long time ago, Rui."
"It doesn't matter, he still did what he did," he responded calmly, taking one more drink before setting both his hands determinedly on the table. Opening his mouth to say something to sway her and placing his hand on hers, Tsukushi narrowed her eyes and withdrew her arm, as if she'd been stung. Immediately, she jumped on the defensive, assuming exactly what would come out of his mouth.
"You listen here, Hanazawa Rui. I can date whoever I want, whenever I want, and you have no right to say anything. You don't know Junpei, you only know what happened. True, what he did was completely horrid, but I don't believe in holding grudges against people for all eternity! I don't know what you rich people think, but everyone deserves a second chance."
With that final word, Tsukushi stood up, lifting her shopping bag and slinging it over one shoulder. Taking a small bill out of her pocket, she set it on the table and gave him one last dark look. "Listen here. You may be my best friend, but I won't take anyone's misgivings anymore. That's what got me into trouble in the first place, and I'm not going to let it happen again. What I do is my business. Thanks for the dress."
Without listening for a response, she turned on her heel and crossed the small restaurant, setting one hand on the glass door to open it.
"Stop right there, Tsukushi."
His voice was more deep and commanding than she could ever remember it being. She felt a strong hand grab her arm and turn her around, her wide eyes meeting with stern, marble orbs. Rui opened the door and walked out, taking her along beside him without glancing back once. "Hanazawa Rui, you let me go this instant!"
There was no response as he led her into a small clothes shop, where the only person in sight was a woman behind the counter, who merely took one look at the pair and stalked into her back room.
"I won't interfere in your plans, I won't get angry at you for going on dates with whoever you'd like to, and I certainly won't give you any trouble." He paused briefly, taking a deep breath and looking away for a moment, his eyes thoughtful, before he returned with renewed vigor. "Makino Tsukushi, you're my friend. Don't you trust me?"
Tsukushi blinked, still attempting to absorb his short speech. She opened her mouth to respond, but taking one look at his endearing, soft expression, she only nodded her head and smiled.
"All I want to say is to be careful. He deceived you once, just keep your eyes open. Oh, and take this back." Rui opened his hand to show the bill she had previously left on the table. Without a second thought he took her hand and put it in her open palm, closing her fingers over it and letting free a small smile.
Tsukushi sighed slightly at his expression and dropped her eyes to the ground. "Sorry," she said, her voice quiet.
"Don't worry about it. Shall we go finish eating? I want to hear how he found you again." She nodded her head and Rui tucked his hands into his pockets, winking at her as the pair left the small shop. The cashier returned from her back room, tilting her head over the cash register to admire the rather fair figure of the handsome boy.
***
Junpei's face grew darker as he looked briefly at the paper where he'd written directions to Tsukushi's house before taking a left. The neighborhood was rather low-class, with numerous alleyways and ratty, broken down apartment complexes lining the pothole-pocked streets. Arriving at his destination, he let out a sigh as he hurriedly locked his doors before approaching the complex written on his note.
Of course she would live in a place such as this, she really was a mere commoner. The poor girl had probably lived in such conditions all her life and found it nothing out of the ordinary; however, Junpei was horribly angry that such a girl lived in a place like that when she really, truly deserved so much better.
After opening a ratty door and taking two flights of broken, rotting stairs, he arrived at the indicated apartment and rang the bell. It buzzed loudly, and Junpei only had to wait a few moments before the door was flung open and Tsukushi stood, smiling widely.
"Come on in, you're early," she greeted, opening the door and allowing him to step inside. Without a word he glanced around; the walls were a cheery light yellow, but the apartment was rather empty besides a table, a bookshelf, a desk, and... Junpei blinked. Heaped onto the table were monkeys--hundreds of them. Small stuffed monkeys, pen monkeys, papers, posters, and one large, cardboard sheet lay nearby. Diverting his eyes from the bizarre sight, he saw there were only two other rooms, which he could see were a bathroom and a rather small bedroom. The kitchen was merely some counters and tile stuffed into a corner.
"Good evening, Makino-san," Junpei responded rather belatedly, watching the girl quickly bustle about, tucking things away and attempting to make her apartment look more presentable.
"I'm really sorry about the mess," she apologized, "I'm doing a project for the wedding."
Junpei raised his eyebrows. "A project? Is that what all the monkeys are about?" Tsukushi smiled weakly and nodded her head.
"Can you hold on for just a few minutes? I have some things I still have to do, but I'll be right back out. Just take a seat, there's some tea here," she said in a flurry, hurrying to retrieve a small kettle from the kitchen and a cup and saucer. She poured some of the warm liquid briefly before scooting some of her strange materials off the table and setting down the pot.
"Sure, take your time," Junpei replied calmly, watching as the girl dashed off into her bedroom and closed the door. He picked at his shirt, yawning slightly and taking a sip of the tea.
It was amazingly good. He raised his eyebrows and took another sip, letting out a satisfied sigh as the rich, warm liquid slid down his throat and caused his body to sink into a comfortable haze. Junpei noted a few crashes coming from the bedroom, but he could only yawn and set the cup back down to wait.
After a few moments the door opened once more, revealing a breathless Tsukushi. Junpei almost choked when he looked over her. She wore a faint hint of lipstick and her face appeared to have no makeup on it at all, despite its flawless look. Her hair was tied back and bound with chopsticks, and two short locks fell in front, framing her still slightly rounded face. Her neck was long and smooth, adorned with a small silver necklace--of which the pendant was hidden beneath her shirt--and a teal shirt with gray overcoat complimented her chest and waist. She wore a medium-length striped skirt, complete with belt and black sandals.
All in all, the style highlighted all the right parts and Junpei wondered how exactly he was going to restrain himself during this self-proclaimed date.
***
"Is she going to the wedding?"
"Yes."
"How'd you convince her of that?"
"A shopping trip, free lunch and a listening ear."
"Really, those kinds of charms will only work on Makino. We've tried everything in our books, but of course it's the shopping that makes the cut."
"Actually, I coerced her into it more than anything. I merely managed to convince her that she needed it in order to buy Shigeru and Tsukasa a wedding present."
"Rui, you sly dog, you."
"Not really."
"So where is she? I thought she would have come with us tonight, she likes clubbing with us on her nights off."
"Yeah, it is rather lonely without the working girl. Women get too bold when she's not around."
"You've never complained about that before, Soujiro."
"Shut up, Akira. So, where is she?"
"On a date."
"You're lying!"
"Makino? Dating? With who?"
"Oribe. Oribe Junpei."